Still angry about Chris Foy's dismissal of Willian and Ramires in Saturday's 1-0 loss at Aston Villa, he said: "There was a beautiful tackle Oscar did that, with another referee, would be a second yellow card.

"But this referee saw perfectly that Oscar made a fantastic tackle."

Galatasaray boss Roberto Mancini, who admitted Drogba and the rest of his team had played poorly, had a little dig at Mourinho by insisting his former club Manchester City would pip Chelsea to the title.

He said: "City are the best team. They have the best players. Manchester City have a big chance to win the Premier League."